Every herbalist has their own spin on how to make tinctures, infuse oils and dry herbs. It is very personal. Where you do this is just as important as how. For me, our upstairs office is the ideal room for making medicine and drying herbs for me. The window has southern exposure and there is limited temperature variation during the day and night. Up until now, I could get away with putting my tinctures and oils on the windowsill and dry herbs on a sheet, but not anymore. I am making too many tinctures and oils, and only plan to make even more.

So, I asked Mike to make me a shelf while he was making himself a bookshelf. I didn’t need anything special, just a wider ledge to put my jars on. Well, Mike outdid himself! He made me a beautiful, very sturdy bookshelf with two shelves. I had no idea Mike was so talented, he really has kept this skill hidden from me. Yet, I guess I should have known that he could not simply make a ledge, Mike never simply does anything, whenever he has done something in the past, it has always been over the top. Why should this be anything different?

So now, I have this amazing bookshelf to make medicine on and two shelves to dry herbs out of the sun. I found two old window screens and put them on the shelves for drying herbs. It works so well and fast.  I used to put the herbs on a sheet to dry, which can take up to a week. Then put the herbs into a paper bag for a couple of weeks, to make sure all the moisture was gone before I put them into a glass jar. After all that work, who wants moldy herbs? Now the herbs dry on the screen within 3 days. I still put them into a paper bag; just to make sure all the moisture is gone.

I can’t wait to try the herbs out this winter! Since the herbs are drying faster, I am capturing more of their medicinal qualities. The old way worked too, all the herbs retained their beautiful colors and scents, but I am sure this way is much better.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.